The 2025 General Consolidated Election looks like a very successful night for incumbent representatives on the Peoria City Council.
If one thin election night margin of less than 100 votes holds through two weeks of mail-in ballots, all three incumbents facing challengers to their seats will stay on the council.
The race still in question is in the city’s large, diverse District 4. Incumbent Andre Allen faces challenger Jamie Messmore. As of Tuesday night, Allen led the race by 79 votes out of just more than 4,000 ballots.
Allen said the close race emphasizes the importance of listening to and communicating with constituents. He said previous efforts on this front include attending homeowners’ association meetings and hosting a monthly “Coffee with Constituents.”
“Once the dust settles, we’ll go back out there and listen to constituents and try to hear those themes and those stories and see what are they feeling and how can we incorporate that into the actions that we take on the city council to make sure that they are feeling best represented,” Allen said.
If Allen returns to the seat, he says priorities include enriching neighborhoods through neighborhood mini-grants, moving forward on the Northmoor Road fire station project, and working with a new face on the council in the District 2 seat.
Allen believes the resources and experience he is carrying for a second term are the biggest changes between four years ago and now. This is Allen’s first contested race for the seat; he ran unopposed in 2021 after opponent Steve Kouri dropped out to fill a state appointment.
“This work started years ago, when I ran at-large in 2019 and we did fairly well in that race,” said Allen. “And so a lot of this is just building blocks and building blocks and building blocks.”
While Allen’s re-election still hangs in the balance of mail-in votes, fellow incumbents Denis Cyr in District 5 and Denise Jackson in District 1 enjoyed decisive victories Tuesday night.
Jackson, who unseated incumbent Denise Moore in 2021, overcame challenger James Kemper in a roughly 75-25 percentage split of nearly 2,300 votes.
“I think it says a lot about the work that we have put forth over the last four years,” she said. “I could not have done the things that I was able to accomplish without the support of Mayor Rita Ali and I’m just grateful for her leadership, grateful for the opportunity to serve, but we have only scratched the surface.”
Some of Jackson’s next-term priorities include maintaining core services like road maintenance and making sure police are properly equipped to respond to violent crime.
Cyr won re-election over challenger Hind Abi-Akar, earning almost 64% of the vote on more than 4,200 ballots.
In the leadup to the election, Cyr stressed a need for continuity in the district and touted the value of the relationships and track record he had built with business leaders there.
“I think they’re telling me that they’re satisfied or happy with my performance the last eight years,” Cyr said of the results. “I told you last time 'I was with you.' I’m actually pretty proud of my track record, what I’ve done for the fifth district ... and obviously there’s enough people that agree with me.”
Some of the ongoing projects Cyr mentions include development in Tax Increment Financing [TIF] districts for the Maui Jim and Natural Fiber Welding companies, as well as road construction projects on Pioneer Parkway and Deerbrook Drive.
“I think it’s just pretty much the same for me, I mean, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully I’ll be able to help as many people as possible,” said Cyr.
District 3 Councilmember Tim Riggenbach ran unopposed.
The only race for city council which is sure to result in a new face around the horseshoe is District 2, where Alex Carmona holds a slim lead over Estrella Diaz in unofficial election night results.
The District 2 seat is vacant after long-serving council member Chuck Grayeb launched an unsuccessful mayoral bid that failed to advance beyond the February primary.
Results will be certified April 15.
